Iraq’s execution of 34 people in one day ‘shocking’ – UN human rights chief

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Iraq’s execution of 34 people in one day ‘shocking’ – UN human rights chief

High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay24 January 2012 – The United Nations human rights chief said today she was shocked at reports that 34 people were executed in Iraq in a single day last week and called on the country to institute an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty.“Even if the most scrupulous fair trial standards were observed, this would be a terrifying number of executions to take place in a single day,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated in a news release.

“Given the lack of transparency in court proceedings, major concerns about due process and fairness of trials, and the very wide range of offences for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, it is a truly shocking figure,” she added.Most disturbingly, we do not have a single report of anyone on death row being pardoned, despite the fact there are well documented cases of confessions being extracted under duress.

The 34 individuals, including two women, were executed on 19 January following their conviction for various crimes, according to the UN human rights office (OHCHR).

The total number of individuals sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004 is believed to stand at more than 1,200. The total number actually executed since then is not known, although at least 63 individuals are thought to have been executed in the past two months alone.

The death penalty can be imposed in Iraq for around 48 crimes, including a number of non-fatal crimes such as – under certain circumstances – damage to public property.

“Most disturbingly,” said Ms. Pillay, “we do not have a single report of anyone on death row being pardoned, despite the fact there are well documented cases of confessions being extracted under duress.”

She called on the Government to implement an immediate moratorium on the institution of death penalty, noting that around 150 countries have now either abolished the death penalty in law or in practice, or introduced a moratorium.

The High Commissioner also urged the Government “to halt all executions and, as a matter of urgency, review the cases of those individuals currently on death row.”

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GENEVA — UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed shock Tuesday at Iraq’s execution of 34 people and called for an immediate suspension of the death penalty there.

Pillay said she was shocked at the lack of transparency over the executions, including two women, in Iraq last Thursday following their conviction for different crimes.

The spokesman of Iraq’s justice ministry, Haidar al-Saadi, confirmed to AFP in Baghdad that the executions took place, without elaborating.

“I call on the government of Iraq to implement an immediate moratorium on the institution of the death penalty,” Pillay said in a statement.

“Even if the most scrupulous fair trial standards were observed, this would be a terrifying number of executions to take place in a single day,” said Pillay, a South African high court judge.

“Given the lack of transparency in court proceedings, major concerns about due process and fairness of trials, and the very wide range of offences for which the death penalty can be imposed in Iraq, it is a truly shocking figure,” she said.

The United Nations estimates that more than 1,200 people have been sentenced to death in Iraq since 2004, but it does not have comprehensive statistics on executions.

It has recorded at least 63 executions since November 16.

In Iraq, the death penalty can be applied to 48 types of crime, including damage to public property in some cases, according to the United Nations.

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I remember going to outdoor gold markets while in the Middle East....gold booths and tables with every trinket or necklace you could imagine......there wasn't a way of packing it all away every night due to the size of it, asked if they was scared of someone stealing from them and they always answered no. The penalty for stealing is the hand that was used is cut off....if it was a serious offence or happened more than once they would gouge their eye's out also. Just food for thought.....and our prisoners get better cable than I do.